Technical Field
Embodiments of the subject matter disclosed herein relate to systems for testing electrical circuits.
Discussion Of Art
Electrical systems may include one or more wiring harnesses used to transfer multiple separate electrical signals to and from electrical components. Specifically, a wiring harness is a group of wires that are bundled together in order to simplify their handling and routing. Although bundling wires together into a group makes the process of handling them collectively easier, it also makes inspection and repair of individual wires within the bundle more difficult. In addition, because the wires are bundled together, the wires in the wiring harness are subject to rubbing and chafing during vibration or other physical loading, which can lead to degradation in the wire, and ultimately a loss of performance. Monitoring the wires within a wiring harness is desirable to detect faults as they develop, and before they become severe enough that the signal being carried by a wire is lost entirely.
Various techniques have been used to test the integrity of wiring harnesses, including visual inspection. However, in some circumstances, much of the wiring is not available for visual inspection without significantly dismantling the harnesses. As another example, the wiring harness or connector to which the wiring harness is coupled may be back-probed with a small conductive probe, such as a screw driver or paper clip. However, individually back-probing multiple wire connections of the wire harness may be confusing and may also degrade the wiring harness since the probe may split the insulation wiring or damage the connector.